The Real Princess: A Mathemagical Tale - Hardcover

Williams, Brenda

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1905236883 ISBN 13: 9781905236886

Publisher: Barefoot Books, 2008

Synopsis

A classic with a twist, this number-crunching take on The Princess and the Pea features not just one princess, but three, not to mention four horses, five dogs, six grooms, seven gardeners, and all kinds of chances for young mathematicians to put their adding and subtracting to the test!

About this title

About the Author

Brenda Williams, a former primary school English teacher, is now a highly regarded children's poet. She is also the author of Home for a Tiger, Home for a Bear (978-1-90523-680-0); this is her second Barefoot project. She lives in Wiltshire and is married with two children and five grandchildren. Sophie Fatus is a full-time illustrator and sculptress who studied at the prestigious Academy of Fine Art in Paris. Her brightly coloured illustrations and quirky style are world-renowned and have graced the pages of several other Barefoot books including Babushka (978-1-8414-811-2), Riddle Me This! (978-1-90523-633-6), My Daddy is a Pretzel (978-1-90523-682-4) and Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (HB with CD 978-1-84686-035-5: PB with CD 978-1-84686-079-9). Sophie lives in Florence, Italy. Juliet Stevenson is a stage and screen actress with many credits to her name, including Truly, Madly, Deeply; Emma; Bend It Like Beckham and Mona Lisa Smile. She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role in Death and the Maiden.

From School Library Journal

Grade 1–4—Three princes, Primo, Secundo, and Terzo, are in need of brides, but only the oldest must find a real princess—one fit to be the next queen. When two bedraggled young women arrive during storms, Secundo and Terzo become enamored of them, and marry them even though they are not quite real—they do not feel the gold peas that the queen has placed under many mattresses. Finally a real princess's sleep is disturbed by the presence of a solitary pea. The king and queen have parted with all of their gold, but that solitary pea provides them with a fresh source of income. The story, referred to as a traditional tale rather than attributed to Hans Christian Andersen, is liberally laced with numbers, all highlighted by a different font. Children can count the windows in the castle, add up the number of servants, determine how much gold is remaining, and perform other tasks suggested at the back of the book. The text flows nicely and the illustrations, done in acrylics and collaged papers, are intricately detailed and will invite children to pore over them repeatedly. A nice twist on the original with opportunities for readers to interact with the text.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
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About this edition

• Publisher: Barefoot Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1905236883
• ISBN 13: 9781905236886
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Fatus Sophie